Tiltable air-cooled absorption refrigeration apparatus of the inert gas type

ABSTRACT

Absorption refrigeration apparatus of the inert gas type is disposed in a vertically extending plane when it is being operated to produce useful refrigeration. Vapor and liquid flow at the same time in parts of the apparatus formed of piping which, when the apparatus is upright, is inclined to the horizontal at an angle greater than 4* and within a range of 20*. By introducing liquid to a supply line at a sufficient height for gravity flow to the piping during operation of the apparatus liquid will always flow to the piping when the apparatus is tilted to either side from the vertical in the vertically extending plane through an angle not exceeding the angle at which the piping is inclined to the horizontal when the apparatus is upright.

Dec. 4, 1973 United States Patent [1 1 BlombergAnderson........,...Q.................

[ TILTABLE AIR-COOLED ABSORPTION REFRIGERATION APPARATUS OF THE ,INERTGAS TYPE Primary Examiner-William F. O'Dea Assistant Examiner-Peter D.Ferguson Attorney-Edmund A. Fenander [75] Inventor:

[57] ABSTRACT Absorption refrigeration apparatus of the inert gas Sweden[22] Filed: 1972 type is disposed in a vertically ext-ending plane whenit is being operated to produce useful refrigeration. Vapor and liquidflow at the same time in parts of the 21 App]. No.: 235,366 I apparatusformed of piping which, when the apparatus is inclined to the horizontalat an angle and within a range of 20. By introducing liquid to a supplyline at a sufficient height for gravity flow to the piping duringoperation of the apparatus liquid will always flow to the piping whenthe 4 .m h m m re pt m :68 30 3 9 %9 M5 6 1% a 8 0 54 w s I! 9 2 44 6 l2 m 6 mmh" mmm l m C SM.. UIF 1]] 2 8 555 [rll[ References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS apparatus is tilted to either side from the vertical inthe vertically extending plane through an angle? not ex- 62/490 ceedingthe angle at which the piping is inclined to the horizontal when theapparatus is upright. 62/491 X 62/490 X 3,134,245 5/1964 Phillips et a1.3,137,147 6/1964 Boren et a].

' 1,960,821 5/1934 Maiuri et a1. 3,065,609 11/1962 1 Claim, 5' DrawingFigures TILTABIJE AI-CDOLEI) SORP'IION REFRIGERATION APPARATUS OF THEINERT GAS 'IYlPlE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the InventionIn air-cooled absorption refrigeration apparatus of the inert gas typerefrigerant expelled from absorption solution in a generator flows to acondenser in which it is liquefied. Liquefied refrigerant is conductedfrom the condenser to an evaporator in which, due to evaporation anddiffusion thereof into an inert gas, a refrigerating effect is produced.The evaporator forms a part of an inert gas circuit which includes anabsorber in which refrigerant vapor is absorbed into absorption liquid.The refrigeration apparatus is disposed in a vertiw cally extendingplane when it is being operated to produce useful refrigeration.

2. Description of the Prior Art In absorption refrigeration apparatus ofthe kind under consideration, such apparatus heretofore has beenassociated with a cabinet which must be supported in a horizontalposition to make certain that the apparatus will operate correctly andproduce useful refrigeration. Only small mounting errors have beenpermissible when installing refrigeration apparatus on a cabinet becauseof the absolute requirement that any inclination of the apparatus mustbe avoided at 1 all costs. This is so because of the tendency of therefrigeration apparatusto malfunction when it is tilted from thevertical to the slightest degree. I-Ieretofore, it has been a recognizedrule that only a maximum deviation of 3 in either direction from thevertical can be tolerated. Within this range refrigeration apparatus ofthe inert gas type has functioned in a satisfactory manner.

Absorption refrigeration apparatus of the kind under consideration isoperated by a source of heat, such as an electrical heating element or afuel burner operated by liquid or gaseous fuel. It is usually thepractice to employ a fuel burner when the refrigeration apparatus isprovided on a boat or a travel trailer and a source of electrical supplyis not available. But since the maxi-- mum deviation of refrigerationapparatus from the vertical that can be tolerated has not changed, thismeans that refrigeration apparatus provided on boats and traveltrailers, which often are not substantially upright or erect, willmalfunction and cease to produce useful refrigeration which isobjectionable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of my invention to provideabsorption refrigeration apparatus of the inert gas type which, when itis operating to produce useful refrigeration, can be inclined in eitherdirection from the vertical through angles larger than heretoforepossible.

Another object is to provide such tiltable apparatus capable ofproduding useful refrigeration when installed in boats subject torolling and in mobile trailers which assume different angular positionswhen they are parked on sloping terrain and when being moved from placeto place.

More particularly, it is an object to provide such absorptionrefrigeration apparatus which, when it is operating to produce usefulrefrigeration, can be tilted to each side from the vertical through anangle greater than 4 and in a range up to I accomplish this by providingmy improvement in absorption refrigeration apparatus which is disposedin a vertically extending plane when it is being operated to produceusefulrefrigeration and in which vapor and liquid flow at the same timein parts thereof formed of piping. Further,

such piping, when the apparatus is upright, is inclined BRIEFDESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side view, in section, of arefrigerator and an air-cooled absorption refrigeration system of theinert gas type associated therewith which embodies my invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view, partly broken away, of therefrigerator shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view taken at line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation to illustrate the trueinclination to the horizontal of seen in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of parts shown in FIG. 1 to illustrate amodification of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, I have shown my invention in connectionwitha refrigerator comprising a cabinet 10 having an inner liner I1 arrangedto be supis afforded at a front opening adapted to be closed by aninsulated door 16 hinged in any suitable manner (not shown) at the frontof refrigerator cabinet I0.

The thermally insulated compartment 15 is arranged to be cooled by anevaporator 17 of absorption refrigeration apparatus of the inert gastype. Refrigeration apparatus of this type comprises a generator 18 containing a refrigerant, such as ammonia, in solution in a body ofabsorption liquid, such :as water. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 heat issupplied to the generator 18 from a heating tube 19 which may be heatedby an electrical heating element20, for example, which is disposedwithin the tube and connected by conductors ZI to a source of electricalsupply. The heat supplied to the generator 18 and'absorption solutionexpels refrigerant vapor out of solution, and, in a manner to bedescribed hereinafter, refrigerant vapor passes upward from thegenerator through a vapor supply line or conduit 22 into an air-cooledcondenser 23" in which the vapor is liquefied by surrounding cool airwhich flows in physical contact therewith. The liquefied refrigerantflows from the condenser through a conduit 24 into the upper closed endof the evaporator 17 at 17a.

The evaporator 17 forms the upper straight part of an outer looped coilhaving a bend 25 and a lower straight partwhich forms the outerpassageway of a gas heat exchanger 26, the upper and lower straightparts of the outer coil being in different vertical planes. An innerlooped coil extends lengthwise within the outer looped coil and includesa bend 27a and upper and lower straight parts 27b and 270, the part 27bbeing disposed within the evaporator 17 and the part 27c forming theinner passageway of the gas heat exchanger 26.

.The liquefied refrigerant evaporates and difiuses into an inertpressure equalizing gas, such as hydrogen,

which flows upward through the inner looped coil and passes from theupper open end 27a thereof into the presence of the refrigerant. Due toevaporation of refrigerant into inert gas in the evaporator 17, arefrigerating effect is produced with consequent absorption of heat fromthe surroundings.

The rich gas mixture of refrigerant and inert gas formed in theevaporator 17, that is, the annular passageway between the upperstraight parts of the outer and inner looped coils, .flows from thelower end thereof through the coil bends and the outer passageway of thegas heat exchanger 26, that is, the annular passageway between the lowerstraight parts of the outer and inner looped coils. The lower ends ofthe outer and inner looped coils respectively include parts 26a and 27dwhich are transverse to the vertical plane of the gas heat exchanger 26and form the lower part thereof.

. As best seen in FIG. 1, the rich gas, together with an unevaporatedrefrigerant, flows from the outer passageway of the gas heat exchanger26 through a conduit 28 into an absorber comprising a vessel 29 and alooped coil 30. In the absorber vessel 29 and looped coil 30 refrigerantvapor is absorbed into liquid absorbent, such as water, which entersthrough a conduit 31. The hydrogen or inert gas, which is practicallyinsoluble and weak in refrigerant, is returned -to the upper closed endof evaporator 17 from the upper end of the absorber coil 30 through theinner passageway 27d and 270 of the gas heat exchanger 26 and innerpassageway 27b of the evaporator 17.

Absorption liquid enriched in refrigerant in the absorber flows from thevessel 29 through an outer passageway 32 of an elongated liquid heatexchanger 33 which, within the generator 18, includes an outer verticalpipe 34 and an inner vertical pipe 35. Rich absorption liquid flows fromthe passageway 32 through a horizontal conduit 36 into a verticalstandpipe 37. The conduit 36 is connected to standpipe 37 at a point 38which is at a level below the liquid surface level 39 of the column ofliquid held in the pipe 37. As seen in FIG. 2, the liquid surface level39 is at approximately the same level as the liquid surface level in theabsorber vessel 29.

The extreme lower end of the pipe 37 is connected to the lower end of apump pipe or vapor-liquid lift tube 40 heat conductively connected tothe heating tube 19, as by welding, for example. Liquid is raised byvaporliquid lift action through the tube or pump pipe 40 into the upperpart of the pipe 35. The absorption liquid from which refrigerant vaporhas been expelled flows downward by gravity through the inner pipe 35,the latter extending through the liquid heat exchanger 33 and forming aninner passageway thereof. The pipe 35 is connected to the conduit 31from which weak absorption liquid overflows into the upper end ofabsorber coil 30 at a point 30a which is below the liquid surface level41 in pipe 35.

The generator 18, together with a part of the liquid heat exchanger 33,are embedded in a body of insulation 42 retained in a metal shell orcasing 43 having an opening 44a in the bottom 44 thereof. The electricalheating element 20, with the conductors 21 connected thereto, isarranged to be positioned within the heating tube 19 through the opening44a in any suitable manner (not shown).

In the operation of the refrigeration apparatus, vapor generated in thevapor-liquid lift pump 40 flows from the upper end thereof to a gasseparation chamber 35a at the extreme upper end of the standpipe 35 andpasses through openings 35b in the side wall thereof into the outerpassage 45 formed between the inner and outer pipes 35 and 34,respectively. The vapor in the passage 45 depresses the liquid leveltherein to a point 46 and flows through enriched absorption liquid inconduit 36 and pipe 37 by bubble action. After the generated vapor isanalyzed in this manner in the conduit 36 and pipe 37, the refrigerantvapor passes from the upper part of the pipe 37 and vapor supply line 22to the condenser 23, as previously explained.

In order to pre-cool liquid refrigerant before it flows into thepresence of inert gas at the upper closed end of the evaporator 17, theconduit 24 is heat conductively connected to the gas heat exchanger 26at 24a, 24b and 24c and heat conductively connected to the evaporator 17at 24d. The condenser 23 is connected by a conduit 47 to a part of thegas circuit, as to the conduit 28, for example, so that any inert gaswhich may pass through the condenser 23 can flow to the gas circuit.

With the evaporator 17 positioned in the compartment 15 of the cabinet10, the other components of the refrigeration apparatus are located in avertically extending apparatus space 48at the rear of the cabinet whichis defined by the rear portions 12a of the lateral side walls of theouter shell 12 which project beyond the rear insulated wall 49. The topof the outer shell 12 extends rearward to the forward part of theapparatus space 48. Natural draft is produced in the space 48 and causesupward circulation of ambient air due to heat radiated by absorbervessel 29 and coil 30 and by the condenser 23, so that surrounding coolair can flow directly over their surfaces and assure adequate cooling ofthese parts or components. The top and bottom of the space 48 are opento enable air to flow freely upward therein.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the gas heat exchanger 26, which extendsacross the cabinet 10 between the lateral sides thereof, is disposedwithin a body of insulation 14a retained in a removable wall section 50of the rear insulated wall 49 to facilitate the insertion of theevaporator 17 within the cabinet. The lower part of the gas heatexchanger 26, which is transverse thereto and formed by the lower ends26a and 27d of the outer and inner looped coils, respectively, projectsrearwardly from the body of insulation into the apparatus space 48. Theremovable wail section 50 closes an opening in the rear insulated wall49 and is removably secured thereto in any suitable manner (not shown).

In order that the refrigeration apparatus can be tilted from an uprightposition at angles substantially larger than heretofore withoutimpairing its ability to produce useful refrigeration, the condenser 23comprises a pair of hollow members 51 and 52 which slope upward and areunited at 53 at their lower ends and form an angle therebetween. Thehollow members 51 and 52 have an inlet for refrigerant at one level at54 at the region the vapor supply line 22 is connected to the condenser23.

Further, the hollow members 51 and 52 have an outlet for liquefiedrefrigerant at a lower level at the region 53 erantoutlet 53 forconducting-liquid refrigerant from the condenser 23 to the evaporator 17at the point 17a. Refrigeration apparatus like that shown in FIGS. 1

and 2 and just described has been constructed and operated to produceuseful refrigeration'in whichthe hollow members 51 and 52 are inclinedupward from the horizontal at angles greater than and up to whereby theapparatus can be operated when it is tilted to each side from thevertical through an angle in a range of at least 15. When the apparatusis tilted in this manner in the vertical plane of the hollow members 51and 52 in either direction from the vertical, the condenser continues tofunction in a normal manner and the passageway for vapor in the hollowmembers 51 and 52 will not be obstructed or blocked by liquid.

In absorption refrigeration apparatus of the inert gas type providedheretofore, it has only been possible to incline the apparatus about 3from the vertical, as

- pointed out above, without impairing the ability of the is too low forthe reason that this vertical height determines the vertical location ofthe evaporator which, be-

cause of its position in the cabinet interior, must be as close aspossible. to the ceiling of the space being cooled.

As seen in FIG. 2 and described above, the condenser 23 comprises arelatively long length of piping and yet is inclined at a large angle tothe horizontal. This is accomplished by dividing the condenser 23 intotwo parts 51 and 52, each of which has a large angle of inclination. Aspointed out above, refrigeration apparatus like that shown and describedhas been constructed and operated to produce useful refrigeration inwhich the hollow members 51 and 52 are inclined upward from thehorizontal at angles greater than 15. With such inclination of themembers Si and 52 the apparatus can be operatecl when it is tilted toeach side from the vertical through an angle in a range of at least 15.Stated another way, the apparatus, when being operated to produce usefulrefrigeradon, is tiltable through a predetermined angle to each sidefrom a vertical plane passing through the refrigerant outlet 53 which isdependent upon the angle the hollow members 51 and 52 are in-' clinedand slope upward from the horizontal when the apparatus is upright.Further, the refrigerant supply conduit 24 includes at least one part24d which, when the apparatus is upright, slopes upward from thehorizontal through an angle greater than the predetermined angle.

The condenser 23 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and described above isdisclosed and claimed in copending P. E. Blomberg and K. G. Boretiapplication SerQNo. 235,367 filed Mar. 16, 1972.

In order to make certain that the vapor-liquid lift pipe or pump 40 willfunction properly when the refrigeration apparatus is tilted throughrelatively large angles from the vertical in the manner contemplated bymy invention, the absorber vessel 29 is located as close as possible tothe generator shell 43 and bottom 44 thereof. By doing this largechanges in the level of the liquid body in the absorber vessel 29 and"the height of the liquid column in the pump pipe 40 are avoided whenthe refrigeration apparatus is tilted'through the largest permissibleangle.. Further, the absorber coil 30 and. generator18 are located asnear as possible to one another so that the distance between the liquidlevel 41 in the conduit 35 and overflow point 30a of conduit 31 will berelatively small. This will insure flow of weak absorption liquid intothe upper end of the absorber coil 31 even when the apparatus is tiltedthrough the largest permissible angle. 7

- When the refrigeration apparatus is started weak absorption liquid maybe present in the conduit 24 through which liquefied refrigerantissupplied to the evaporator 17 from the condenser 23. In order for thecondensed refrigerant to displace weak absorption liquid in the conduit24 the heights of the two legs of the conduit 24 extending downward fromthe outlet 53 of the condenser. 23 and downward from the liquid overflowpoint 17a at the evaporator 17 desirably must be related to one anotherin a particular manner. The leg of the conduit 24 extending'downwardfrom the condenser. region 53 to the lowest part 24b thereof may bereferred to as the first leg of the conduit 2d which in a broadsense isU-shaped and forms a liquid trap. The leg of the conduit extendingdownward from the evaporator region. 17a to the lowest part 24b thereofmay be referred to as the second leg of the conduit 24.

The two legs of the U-shaped conduit M are of such length that the ratioof the lengths of the first leg to the second leg is about 1.5 to 1.0.The refrigeration apparatus is constructed so that this ratio will bemaintained even when the apparatus is tilted through the largestpermissible angle.

In FlG. 2 the evaporator 17 is illustrated as a straight conduit or pipelength having a relatively large inclination to the horizontal. InFlG. 1it will be seen that the evaporator 17 is adjacent to the rear-wall 49of the cab inet l0 and parallel thereto. As seen in FIG. 2, the hollowmembers SI'and 52 substantially bridge the apps.- ratus space 48 at therear of the cabinet 10 between the lateral sides thereof.

In order for the other components of the refrigeration apparatus tofunction properlyit is necessary that conduits in which liquid normallyis present are not suddenly depleted of liquid or that the heights ofthe liquid columns change sufficiently so that the normal manner inwhich the apparatus functions is completely changed.

In accordance with my invention the flow of vapor is not obstructed orblocked by liquid in conduits in which liquid and vapor flow at the sametime. As explained above, liquid and vapor flow at the same time inparts of the inert gas circuit including the evaporator 17, gas heatexchanger 26 and absorber 30 which comprise conduits or looped coilsformed of piping. In

order to prevent liquid from blocking the flow of vapor the piping ofthe aforementioned parts, when the apparatus is upright, is inclined tothe horizontal at an angle which is greater than 4 and within a range upto Liquid refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator 17 through conduit24 having an inlet at 53 receiving liquid at one level and an outlet at17a at a lower level from which liquid flows into the evaporator 17.Absorption. liquid is supplied to the absorber coil through conduitmeans 35, 31 having an inlet receiving liquid at one level at thevicinity of the openings 35a at the upper end of conduit 35 and anoutlet'at a lower level at30a from which liquid flows from conduit 31into the absorber coil 30.

Each of the inlets for the conduit 24 and conduit means 35, 31 is atsuch a height above its associated outlet at 17a and 30a, respectively,that liquid will flow through the conduit 24 and conduit means 35, 31when the. apparatus is being operated and tilted to either side from thevertical through an angle not exceeding the angle at which theevaporator and absorber piping is inclined to the horizontal when theapparatus is upright.'Further, the evaporator, gas heat exchanger andabsorber piping is inclined to the horizontal at angles corresponding tothe angles at which the hollow members 51 and 52 of the condenser 23 areinclined to the horizontal.

As seen in FIG. 2 the evaporator 17, gas heat exchanger 26 and straightparts 30b of the absorber coil 30, which are parallel to the verticallyextending plane in which the apparatus is disposed, are inclined to thehorizontal at a first angle.

The top straight part 30b of the absorber coil 30, for example, isinclined to the horizontal at an angle of about 10, as indicated inFIG. 1. The evaporator 17, gas-heat exchanger 26 and other straightparts of the absorber coilare inclined to the horizontal at about thesame angle as the top straight part 30b of the absorber coil.

The bend 25 between the evaporator 17 and gas heat exchanger 26 and thebends 56 connecting the straight parts 30b of the absorber coil 30 alsoare inclined to the horizontal at about the same angle as the evaporator17, gas heat exchanger 26 and straight parts of the absorber coil 30.While the inclination of the bends 56 to the horizontal appears to beabout 13, as seen in FIG. 1, this is not the true inclination of thebends 56 to the horizontal which actually is less and about 10.

This can best be explained by referring to FIG. 4 in which 1 representsthe length of the bends 56 as they appear in FIG. 1 which are at a falseangle of inclination a. When the path of flow of the fluids in the bends56 is taken into consideration, as shown in the bottom part of FIG. 4,it will be observed that the actual length of the bends 56 is l X rr/2.

If in FIG. 4 the designation for the lower end of the bends 56 is nowmoved from point x (for the false inclination in FIG. 1) to the point y(for the true inclination in FIG. 4), the true angle of inclination B isobtained which is less than the false angle a and about 10, the sameangle of inclination to the horizontal as the long straight parts 30b ofthe absorber coil 30.

However, the bend 25 between the evaporator 17 and gas heat exchanger 26and the bends 56 connecting the straight parts 30b of the absorber coil30, may be inclined to the horizontal at a second angle which is largerthan the first angle. This is shown in FIG. 5 in which the bends 56connecting the long straight portions 30b of the coil 30 are inclined tothe horizontal at an acute angle which is much greater than the angle ofinclination of the bends 56 in FIG. 1. While the angle of inclination ofthe bends 56 in FIG. 5 are false and not true, as explained above, theinclination of the bends 56 to the horizontal is such that their trueinclination is greater than the inclination to the horizontal of thelong straight parts 30b of the absorber coil 30'.

In this way the overall height of the apparatus will be reduced, whennecessary, and require less vertical space in the cabinet with which itis associated.

It has been found that boats, particularly boats of large size, haveinclinations in the fore-aft direction of about 3. Further, it seldomoccurs that such fore-aft inclinations exceed 5. Hence, refrigerationapparatus of the kind heretofore provided cannot be employed on boats.However, absorption refrigeration apparatus embodying my invention canbe employed on boats with fore-aft inclinations in the range indicatedabove.

There are many types of boats having different characteristics withrespect to the manner in which they move angularly from the vertical.While large boats seldom move angularly from the vertical to any greatextent, as pointed out above, sailing vessels and the like from time totime are subjected to considerable rolling and angular movement from thevertical. Hence, in refrigeration apparatus intended for use on sailingvessels the evaporator and absorber piping of necessity must be inclinedto the horizontal at relatively large angles; and in refrigerationapparatus intended for use on large size boats the evaporator andabsorber piping can be inclined to the horizontal at smaller angles.

I claim:

1. Absorption refrigeration apparatus comprising a. a generator, acondenser, an evaporator, an absorber and members connecting theaforesaid parts to form a complete system for circulation of arefrigerant, an absorption liquid and an inert gas,

b. the inert gas circulating in an inert gas circuit including saidevaporator and said absorber, liquid refrigerant and refrigerant vaporflowing at the same time in said evaporator and absorption liquid andrefrigerant vapor flowing at the same time in said absorber,

c. said apparatus being disposed in a vertically extending plane whenbeing operated to produce useful refrigeration,

d. the aforesaid parts in which vapor and liquid flow at the same timeincluding piping which, when said apparatus is upright, is inclined tothe horizontal at an angle greater than 4,

. the circuit for circulating refrigerant including first circuit meansfor supplying liquid refrigerant to said evaporator, said first conduitmeans having an inlet receivingliquid refrigerant at one level andanoutlet at a lower level from which liquid flows into said evaporator,

f. the circuit for circulating absorption liquid including secondconduit means for supplying absorption liquid to said absorber, saidsecond conduit means having an inlet receiving liquid at one level andan outlet at a lower level from which liquid flows into said absorber,and

g. each of the inlets for the first and second conduit means being atsuch a height above its associated outlet that liquid will flow throughsaid first and 3,775,996 9 I 10 second ebnduit means when said apparatusis being clined to the horizontal when said apparatus is upoperated andtilted to either side from the vertical ri ht in said verticallyextending plane through an angle not exceeding the angle at which saidpiping is inn s

1. Absorption refrigeration apparatus comprising a. a generator, acondenser, an evaporator, an absorber and members connecting theaforesaid parts to form a complete system for circulation of arefrigerant, an absorption liquid and an inert gas, b. the inert gascirculating in an inert gas circuit including said evaporator and saidabsorber, liquid refrigerant and refrigerant vapor flowing at the sametime in said evaporatoR and absorption liquid and refrigerant vaporflowing at the same time in said absorber, c. said apparatus beingdisposed in a vertically extending plane when being operated to produceuseful refrigeration, d. the aforesaid parts in which vapor and liquidflow at the same time including piping which, when said apparatus isupright, is inclined to the horizontal at an angle greater than 4*, e.the circuit for circulating refrigerant including first circuit meansfor supplying liquid refrigerant to said evaporator, said first conduitmeans having an inlet receiving liquid refrigerant at one level and anoutlet at a lower level from which liquid flows into said evaporator, f.the circuit for circulating absorption liquid including second conduitmeans for supplying absorption liquid to said absorber, said secondconduit means having an inlet receiving liquid at one level and anoutlet at a lower level from which liquid flows into said absorber, andg. each of the inlets for the first and second conduit means being atsuch a height above its associated outlet that liquid will flow throughsaid first and second conduit means when said apparatus is beingoperated and tilted to either side from the vertical in said verticallyextending plane through an angle not exceeding the angle at which saidpiping is inclined to the horizontal when said apparatus is upright. 2.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said piping of said parts inwhich vapor and liquid flow at the same time, when said apparatus isupright, is inclined to the horizontal at an angle greater than 5*. 3.Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said piping of said parts inwhich vapor and liquid flow at the same time, when said apparatus isupright, is inclined to the horizontal at an angle greater than 4* andwithin a range of 20*.
 4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which allof said piping of said parts in which vapor and liquid flow at the sametime, when said apparatus is upright, is inclined to the horizontal atthe same angle.
 5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which saidpiping of said parts in which vapor and liquid flow at the same timeincludes first parts parallel to said vertically extending plane inwhich said apparatus is disposed and second parts transverse thereto,the first parts of said piping, when said apparatus is upright, beinginclined to the horizontal at an angle greater than 4*, and the secondparts of said piping, when said apparatus is upright, being inclined tothe horizontal at an angle greater than the angle at which the firstparts are inclined to the horizontal.